Highland Mary

Much of Robert Burns’s early poetry was written about his relationships with women, and “Highland Mary” is no exception. In addition to “Highland Mary,” Burns wrote four other poems to and about his relationship with Mary Campbell (see Further Reading section). Burns met Mary Campbell at church in 1786, shortly after his lover Jean Armour had been persuaded by her father to revoke her promise to marry Burns. While the exact details of Campbell and Burns’s relationship are unclear, the two did have some kind of understanding and intention to marry. In “Highland Mary,” Burns mentions the many vows they exchanged, and in “Will Ye Go to the Indies, My Mary?”, Burns swears “by the Heavens to be true” (Line 10) to her. Written shortly before Campbell’s death, “Will Ye Go to the Indies, My Mary?” also indicates that the two were planning to “leave Scotia’s shore” (Line 2) and to live in the West Indies together. Before Burns and Campbell could fulfill their plans, however, Mary Campbell sailed to Greenock to take care of her sick brother. Burns would never see Mary Campbell again; while nursing her brother, she contracted his typhoid fever and died that same month.

Burns wrote the poems “Will Ye Go to the Indies” and “My Highland Lassie, O” during his relationship with Campbell; “Highland Mary,” “Lament,” and “To Mary in Heaven” were all written years after her death. While the former two poems depict personal excitement and anticipation, the latter three poems describe Burns’s disappointment and lingering grief. Composed on the third anniversary of Campbell’s death, “To Mary in Heaven” represents the frequency with which the now-married Burns still thinks about his “dear departed shade” (Line 5). He is unable to “forget the hallow’d grove” (Line 10) where they first met, and remembering the embrace he did not know would be their last is still so painful it draws “groans” (Line 8) from his breast. Alongside “Highland Mary,” the poem establishes the lasting impact Mary Campbell had on Burns’s life and poetic career. Burns’s love for Campbell inspired his poetry for over six years, and “Highland Mary” still remains one of his most famous and beloved poems.